The Digital Arthur C. Clarke Project - A Proposal
by Jeroen Lapre' November, 2006. Distant Galaxy
Background
The art of re-creating an actor photo realistically in
3D is reaching maturity in the visual effects industry for feature
films and computer games.
e.g. www.xyzrgb.com
A scene from one of the Matrix movies.
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State-of-the-art
3D scanners can simultaneously capture 3D data and surface
color/texture information in a matter of minutes. |
The
process
involves having the actor seated with 3D scanning equipment positioned
around their head.
Proposal
A Digital Sir Arthur C. Clarke
The idea would be to,
with Dr. Clarke's blessings, create several 3D
scans of his head, while Sir Arthur holds a different facial expression
each time.
A 3D scanning crew would travel to Sri Lanka and set up in Dr.
Clarke's
home.
We would:
- research into a
set-up
where each scan only takes a few minutes to complete.
- capture a number of
key facial expressions, from which all
phonemes and emotions can be re-constructed.
- capture a high
fidelity audio recording of his voice,
which can be broken down into it's component wave forms for synthesis.
Applications:
Virtual Host for a future Clarke Anthology Science
Fiction HD/TV/Web/Mobile Media Series
The
virtual Clarke would introduce and
comment on each episode in the series.
Virtual Actor as Hari Seldon in a future
Foundation
HD/TV/Web/Mobile
Media Series, based on
the novels by Isaac Asimov
The virtual Clarke
would make a perfect Hari Seldon,
mathematics professor at Streeling
University on Trantor,
in the famous Foundation Series.
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The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov.
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The Arthur C. Clarke Digital
Memorial
- A digital
artefact for the future
- A memorial
to one of the most
influential individuals in science fiction and space exploration in the
20th Century
- A virtual
host for a future real-world
Foundation-like project.
Royalties
Arthur C. Clarke would receive royalties for each application of
the digital Arthur C. Clarke in media projects such as the above.
Project Management
This project could either:
- ride on the coat
tails of the Making of Maelstrom
II Documentary Sir Arthur interview in Sri Lanka.
- be a separate
project,
visiting Dr. Clarke on a separate occasion from the Maelstrom II
interview, to accommodate his energy levels.
The entire project would take
approximately one day to complete, once the crew has arrived and set up,
with plenty of breaks between each set-up to allow Sir Arthur to get
rest.
Once completed, the Digital
Arthur C. Clarke artefact would only be used for media projects pre
approved by Sir Arthur or his representatives.
I would find
investors and managers to over-see the Digital Clarke
project, so that I can continue to focus on the completion of Maelstrom
II.
I have bounced this idea off a few close friends, whom are also fans of
the science fiction classics, and they are very
excited about this proposal.
Digital Arthur
C.
Clarke Proposal. November 2006 Jeroen Lapre. Distant Galaxy PO Box 817
Forest Knolls CA 94933.
